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Powered Exoskeleton Legs
dyoo78 writes "Berkeley Engineers have come up with an ingenious mechanism that almost mimics, well, Borg technology. Developed by UC Berkeley's Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory, the Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX) consists of mechanical metal leg braces that are connected rigidly to the user at the feet, and, in order to prevent abrasion, more compliantly elsewhere. The device includes a power unit and a backpack-like frame used to carry a large load. This development bring to the forefront the ability to not only carry large loads in wartime efforts, but may possibly help people with limited muscle ability to walk optimally."
actually, check here...
http://me.berkeley.edu/hel/extarms.htm
Took nearly 2 minutes to download, but watching those short steps around... then finding out that the backpack was loaded with 100lbs.... wow.
Obviously the future of movement and an important first step, no pun intended.
So we've got a unit that can carry up to 120lbs of weight. Figure a few more lbs and it may now be able to 'support' a man whos legs no longer work properly. Although this design is based upon feedback from a proper leg to calculate where it is supposed to move/balance.
The old quote about the yellow pages- let your fingers do the walking- may soon become far more true than you've realized... especially for those born or brought to wheelchair bound.
I'd be worried about the centre of gravity on this thing. From the picture, things don't look too good. Sure, the person can carry a huge load. But that load is all on his back, with some of it a foot or more away from his body. If he tips over will the legs be any help getting him upright?
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
on how long it will be before this kind of equipment becomes standard fare in moutain climbing? Everest may not be so hard anymore, with a mechanical exoskeleton and oxygen tanks, and the kind of people who climb everest (which generally costs over $100,000) have the kind of money to blow on this kind of technology when it becomes available.
"Is this just useless, or is it expensive as well?"
the first steps in producing the powered armor of RAH's "Starship Troopers".
I found it interesting to use the term "Pilot" for the user/wearer - especially in light that the exoskeleton is designed to be used with apparently little training.
It's nice to see that we are taking the first steps (excuse the pun) to fight back after space insects destroy Buenos Aires.
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
I can see it now. A poor cripple in school has this exoskeleton. Then the school bully hacks it to beat up the kid wearing it. Then the bully can be lazy, have virtually no evidence he did the beating and stillbe the bully.
Evolution or ID?
is to get this developed to the point where it could replace a wheelchair. The psychological advantage to a person who'd lost the use of his legs to actually stand up and interact with the world "eye to eye" would have to be powerful. It probably also doesn't hurt to keep the muscles moving and the appropriate neural pathways firing.
Yea, I know, long way to get there from here, but it's a promising first step. Certainly worth some research dollars in my opinion.
A goal is a dream with a deadline
They vids aren't that exciting. If you are looking for pr0^h^h^h Cool manga type mechs, but if you are interested in human-robitc compatability, this is nice.
:-) But as the downloads at berkley were getting slower and slower, I offer a mirror of the three vid clips:
Each video is basically a guy walking around in circles for a minute or so. So if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all.
Bleex-part1.mpeg(18)
Bleex-part2.mpeg(21 meg)
Bleex-part3.mpeg(23 meg)
[/karmawhoring]
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
-- The Doctor, "Doctor
Worry no more as you march around protesting the cause of the day
There are so many causes because there is so much injustice. Sorry pal, this isnt funny, its +1 Compassion-less.
Should social-justice advocates give up because the challenge is too great? Simply because side-line selfishness-advocates (like yourself) snipe with witless barbs like "hippy" and "cause whore" and such? Some people actually WANT a better, more just, more peacefull world. Protesting in public is a way to actualize that goal... undermining that action with stupidity like yours only serves those who want to Make the World Suck, m'kay? So, think a little before you propagate this hollow meme, it has a purpose... and its not a good one.
This one has arms.
"The fundamental technology developed here can also be developed to help people with limited muscle ability to walk optimally"
Having just broken my ankle recently, I could see how - if priced right - this technology would be great for patients recovering from leg injuries.
I'm wondering how well it actually supports the legs. Assumedly, one could splint or cast the broken part of the leg/ankle/etc, and allow the mechanics to take weight off the broken areas.
Even if it weren't useful for an actual break, it would definately be great for the recovery process. I'm getting my cast off tomorrow, but I can see that my muscle atrophied rather quickly. 5 weeks, and my once well-formed muscles are now rather thin (the other leg got a lot stronger though).
An exoskeleton would assist the weak muscles, while the movement should force movement which would strengthen them over time. I'd go for one if I could get it!
So, the engineers finally played this game and decided that it can't be that hard to actually build a machine like that.
:)
On a serious note, that's what this is on the way too. Someone above mentioned that this will enable soldiers to carry very heavy armour that can protect them from most small firearms. Soon, there will be arm exoskeletons and then after that we'll have complete exoskeletons, and at some point, the machines will end up looking like the Mechwarrior machines with missiles and automatic machine guns.
Though it would be nice to think of the possibilities on a humane side. Helping people who've lost the ability to walk, to walk again. But that not what provides the money (the large amounts needed to really propell this). This should make basketball actually watchable again
"Time is long and life is short, so begin to live while you still can." -EV
The article starts out with a statement of how terrible it would be to haul around a 70 lb pack. That was considered a light load when I was in the Special Forces. Double that capacity and you'll have something the Army might be really interested in.
Read any good sonnets lately?
That would be the engine and hydraulic pump I'd presume.
It was a joke! When you give me that look it was a joke.
I liked how the saftey cable was discreetly dangling down behind the demonstrator's head and connected to the backpack. Good insurance against demo gremlins that would cause the system to seize and make the guy flop forward with 200lbs of stuff landing on his back.
Not A Sig
Oh, that's the kind of thing a smart designer has hammered out in requirements analysis, and the kind of thing a stupid designer will get caught in cert review people. I imagine it really only works in a military review, though, where the human subjects can be commanded to do just about anything, as long as it's reasonable. (And yes, "try to break your legs wearing the exoskeleton" is probably considered reasonable by most military cert types). I just wouldn't expect a civilian model for quite a while.
I've been in the design process of a hydraulic-assist exoskel for the past year or so, and safety was also a major consideration of mine. My design includes not only mechanical limits in the range of motion of the machined joints, but also a passive hydraulic bypass at the limit of each joint. This should limit the hydraulic joints ability to move past a position that its human counterpart would get pissy with.
:)
:)
Any testers
My design incorporates the valve into the joint itself. In the event of mechanical failure in terms of range of motion, the valve fails too. Fluid everywhere, no force applied to the joint. With clever valve designs, the hydraulic system itself can be used as a buffer or counter safety for the mechanical limits. This isn't foolproof though, a major component malfunction during heavy use can still cause human harm. But this is true with many machines that we come into contact with on a daily basis. With care, a human exoskel can be very reliable. I hope.
Again, want to be first?
My Public Key can be found in a fake rock by my front door.
Servo Magazine (an offshoot of Nuts and Volts - dedicated to robotics) is sponsoring a competition called "Tetsujin 2004" - aka "Iron Man" - a powered exoskeleton competition, October 21-23, in Santa Clara, CA.
From what I can gather, I imagine it to be basically what happens when you take powered exoskeletons, and combine them with allure of battle robotics (aka, BattleBots, Robot Wars, BotBash, etc). Essentially, let's see what "garage-level" robotics engineers can come up with in the spare time.
I think its going to be interesting - seeing how battle robotics have almost single-handedly brought back hobby robotics from the brink...
Check it out - deadline for registration is in June...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
The loaders out of Alien were actually modelled on a real thing: the hardiman exoskeleton. It was designed by General Electric and I don't think they ever got it working completely.
Don't blame me - this
A mech could, quite reasonably, lift parts of fallen buildings to rescue people, disassemble roadblocks, dig irrigation canals, replace pipes...
As with human bipedalism, the advantage would be adaptablity. Three fingered hands alone would be able to handle very large custom tools like shovels, as well as any debri that happened to be lying around.
Of course, you could just give a tank robot arms if you felt like it... but then you'd need a raised cockpit or shoulder assembly to be able to use those arms in a decent range of motion. Mech on treads. Whee.
The point is, with this adaptability and the increase in labor efficiency, you're not just replacing a tank. You're replacing a tank, a group of six marines doing manual labor, a steamshovel, a forklift... and what you get in return is a forklift/steamshovel/work team/tank with nightvision, radar, gps, etc. Much, much more reasonable than duplicating those features in each one of those tools...
This would primarily be useful in the first few days after the U.S. sweeps in somewhere because of course commodity bulldozers are very cheap, compared to a battle machine, but as the last war showed, people have more and more come to expect the U.S. to have the entire territory that's been damaged repaired within a week. When your genuine bulldozers have to follow five days behind the advance sweeping in somewhere, you can't even begin reapirs until a week after securing the area.
A similiar device was built in the 1960's. It too used hydraulics for force supplement but wasn't too successful. Hydraulic control was analog and not digital and with all analog hydraulic robots, doesn't work very well. The power source was an issue and I can't recall whether it was part of the frame or not. There isn't a lot on web about it (used to be some, good luck finding it now), but it is in books (remember kiddies, those quaint things with writing on paper) One main difference was it included the arms and I think the basic idea was to use it for logging in hard to get areas. Of course 40 years of new materials, digital control and experience with other robots makes it all a bit easier. Still a long way to go, like real robots the whole lot needs wrapping in something tough so it's fragile actuators, sensors and cotnrols don't damaged or snagged